When I Was Your Man
by Captain'Merica
Summary: Bruno Mars songfic. Derek has never been perfect, but he messed up big-time. Now, after three years of being separated, Chloe is finally moving on. But how can Derek let her do that when he can't stop thinking about her? Rated T for slight language.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Hi :) I just wanted to say that this may be a little lame. I think there aren't nearly enough explosions, but it is what it is. This was meant to be a one-shot, but when I started writing it, it went on for far too long. So this story will have about 3 or 4 chapters, all still relating to the initial song "When I Was Your Man" by Bruno Mars. I_talicized phrases _are Derek's thoughts. Constructive criticism is always welcome. Thank you so much for clicking on my story and I hope you enjoy it :)

Disclaimer: Y'all know Kelley Armstrong owns the Darkest Powers series and Bruno Mars (and associates?) own the rights to the song "When I Was Your Man" :/

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DPOV

I flip onto my other side again, seeking comfort I know won't be there.

Ever since Chloe left me, every night is like this. I try to sleep, but I can't. All I can do is feel the empty space beside me and remind myself how incredibly stupid I was to have let her go. And how big of an ass I am to have been the reason she left.

Chloe and I had been fine for a long time. After we caught up with dad and ran into hiding, we became a real couple. We held hands, we laughed, we made out once in a while (and always got caught doing so.) For three years we stayed at each others side, through thick and thin. Yeah, we fought constantly, but we were smart enough to make the best out of all the bad situations the Edison group would put us in. And even after the government's Secret Bureau of Supernatural Tendencies took down the Edison group and its affiliates once and for all when I turned nineteen, we stayed together.

I planned on going to school for Mathematical Sciences, and of course Chloe dreamed of studying film. Once the bureau pulled some strings to straighten out our high school transcripts, we could easily be excepted into any college we dreamed of. But even so, we wanted to stay together. Well, I wanted us to stay together. I couldn't let my pack separate from my protection (and yeah, I regretfully mean Tori too.)

So we opted to go to the school that serviced all our interests, including Chloe's desire to stay near her dad's general work area. When we could at last come out of hiding, Chloe had explained everything to him, and after hours of the two crying and apologizing to each other, every detail had been ironed out. He began calling her every day, which she said he'd never done before. It was nice to see her so happy whenever she talked to him.

When we realized NYU was the school for us, I asked Chloe if she wanted to live in an apartment with me instead of sharing one with my dad, Simon, and Tori. She immediately jumped on the idea, agreeing we could always use some uninterrupted alone time. And it was great living together. For two years we went on through our college lives without fault, me working as an assistant in a biology lab and her working as a waitress at one of the top restaurants in the area. It was almost perfect.

That is, until I screwed it all up.

I roll over one last time. _Yeah, I'm not sleeping tonight._ I let out a frustrated sigh and sit up, rubbing a rough hand over my drooping eyelids. I glance at the clock. **5:43**. No point in trying to sleep now.

I roll off the right side of my bed, standup, and reach upwards, cracking what feels like every muscle in my body. As I slowly make my way towards the adjacent bathroom, I glance at the calendar, registering what day it is.

_Damn. It's not here already, is it?_

I've been dreading this day more than I've dreaded anything, which is saying something for a guy who's body shifts into a werewolf's every week. I just can't believe it came so quickly. I would be lying if I said I didn't think of just not going at all. Not showing up would save a lot of heartache and pain for myself. But it would only hurt her.

Suddenly my radio blares, shocking me out of my stupor. Was it really six o'clock already? I had seriously stood here twenty minutes? Jeez. I stumble towards the right-hand side table to turn the damn thing off, but freeze mid-step as I realize the song it plays.

"_For a, daydream believer and a, homecoming queen…" _

I nearly stop breathing when I hear it, afraid of uttering out an embarrassing whimper, even though I'm all alone.

That was our song. I mean, yeah, it was her and mother's first, and I would never take that away from her. But that was still our song. The song that brought us closer together when we were separated from the others way back when. The song that I would hum to her whenever she was awaken by a ghost, and the song she would sing to me whenever I would start a Change. That's the song that described everything about what our relationship was. Not in the words, but in the music itself.

And I hated it.

I quickly reach forward and grip my radio alarm tightly, ripping it's cord from the wall and slamming it into the wallpaper. _I can't do this. I can't do this._ My breathing quickens, and my throat begins to close. I'm suffocating. I know I am. _I can't do this. I can't do this. _I try to control my heart rate, but it just speeds on, almost erupting from my chest. How in the world did I expect to show up today? This would only happen again! _I can't do this. I can't -_

Suddenly my phone vibrates from the side table, and I rush to grab it, directing my attention to anything but my current thoughts. I slide my Smartphone's bar to answer, letting out a quick "Hello?" through shallow breath.

"Whoa, Derek. You okay bro?"

Simon.

_Thank god. _"Yeah, Simon. Yeah. Yeah, I'm okay. Yeah." The words stumble off my tongue before I can even think.

"Derek. Calm down. Breathe in," I boisterously do as I'm told "and breathe out."

As Simon repeats his instructions multiple times, I slowly drift back into thinking rationally. _I'm okay. I'm okay._

"Now are you okay?" I hear Simon ask through the receiver.

"Yeah. Much better." I reply exhaustedly.

"Good." He replies, then pauses as he seems to think something over. "Considering that little anxiety attack I'm guessing you remember what day it is."

I breathe out some stifled air. "Yeah."

I'd been having panic attacks like those ever since Chloe left me. Three years now and I still can't quite make it without her. She was always there to calm me down, and not having her with me freaked me out. I feel like a part of me is just gone, missing from it's designated space. There's no way I'll ever fill that void. I'm not even sure I plan to.

"Just remember," I hear Simon say through the phone. "it's for the best." But he doesn't stop without adding "It's what Chloe wants."

Yeah. It's everything she wants in one. A future. A stable home. And me, gone.

It's for the best.

"Alright dude, you better start getting ready." Simon says. "Dad wants you over here in an hour for breakfast. So I'd hurry."

I sigh in frustration. "Why does he need me to come so early anyway?" I ask.

"Well, considering how I just caught you giving yourself a heart attack, I'd say he probably wants to prep you for today." Simon replies, yawning loudly in my ear. "And he needs help with the favors. He still hasn't finished putting them together."

"Why can't you help him?" I bark a little more harshly than I intended.

"Hey," I can picture him raising his hands in surrender. "I have to work a little this morning. Apparently I didn't clean up my desk last night at the studio, and Cassie's so pissed at me." Then he adds, "She's hot when she's angry."

"Simon," I say, praying my words will get through his thick head. "She's your boss."

"Yeah," He replies, as if his conclusion is obvious. "And she's _hot. _And I'm thinking about maybe asking her to come today."

"Why? It's not like you can sit with her." I swear, sometimes Simon just doesn't think things through.

"I was thinking of flirting it up with her from the front. You know, give her a little eye wiggle."

"I can't believe you just said that."

"Well I'm full of-"

"Just tell dad I'm jumping in the shower, then I'll be right over."

"Whatever." He replies in haste. Probably wishing I would have let him finish his lame line. "Just don't forget your tux."

As I hang up and make my way into the bathroom, I think back and realize just how much sympathy Simon's voice seemed to hold.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: I don't think this is very long, and I'm sorry about that. But I had to divide the chapter here because of how lengthy the upcoming pieces of story are. Thank you for reading and I really hope you enjoy it. Let me know what you think :)

I wanted to quickly thank those who took time to review. It really means a lot. Thank you "Unknown Bones", and I'm sure your guess is probably right :) To "Guest" and Lucky Ariana Wolf, I wish I could tell you guys what it is now! I promise to reveal it soon! And thank you so much to "Airman" for saying that. It kinda-sorta made my day :D Thank you also to anyone who liked this story or subscribed. I was a little nervous posting and it's good to know you guys like it :)

Disclaimer: The Darkest Powers series belongs respectfully to Kelley Armstrong, and the song "When I Was Your Man" is owned rightfully by Bruno Mars.

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Previously: _"As I hang up and make my way into the bathroom, I think back and realize just how much sympathy Simon's voice seemed to hold."_

DPOV

As I step out of the shower and throw on some blue-jeans and a black tee, I think back to the time when I was first with Chloe. I look past all the great moments and focus on Simon. He must have been so hurt and torn, wondering what he might've not done well enough for Chloe to have come to me instead.

He must have been feeling everything I'm feeling now.

I remember when we were around eighteen and snuck into the nearest high schools prom. It was a huge school, with over four-hundred Seniors gathering for a "night of magic", as the banner above the gymnasium claimed. Dad concluded it would be easy to get lost among a crowd that big, which is why it was the perfect place for us to sneak into for the night.

Simon and I couldn't afford to treat it like a real prom, not in our situation. We dressed in some button-up shirts we had scavenged from a box in the rental house we once occupied and some cheap Wal-Mart slacks. I remember my shirt being so tight I had to leave the top button undone, and Simon claiming that Chloe would find it "super sexy." I didn't really care. I just wanted to get this night over with.

The girls were forced to dress cheap, too, despite Tori's numerous protests. I haven't a clue what she wore, honestly. I couldn't care less. But I remember exactly what Chloe had on. It was hard to forget her five dollar black sundress and the way it brought out her sky-colored eyes. I could never forget the way her loose strawberry-scented hair framed her freshly-washed face, or how her faded converse squeaked at the top of the stairs, almost in excitement.

She was so beautiful.

To be honest, the entire day before the dance, I was more nervous than I had ever been in my entire life. I didn't know how to dance, and I was too ashamed to ask Simon for help. But as I stood next to my brother at the bottom of the staircase of our current rental house and looked up into those gleaming blue orbs, all of my fear disappeared. That's when I really kind of knew. I loved her. And I could never stop loving her. And despite my hang-ups about the unnecessary exposure and crowds of a dance, I knew deep-down, though she didn't want to admit it, Chloe wanted this. She wanted to feel normal for once, to feel like, for one night, she wasn't a necromancer on the run. She wanted to feel like a normal girl, with a normal boyfriend, at a normal school dance.

And I was determined to give that to her.

When we finally arrived at the school, I was more nervous than I was earlier. Tori spent the whole car ride talking to nobody about how she would handle any boys that tried to hassle her onto the dance floor and how she better not see Simon dancing with _anybody, _"For the safety of the group." Ever since Tori had found out about her and Simon's relation, she was almost protective over him. She always asked how his blood sugar was doing, or how his sorcery was going. Right before she punched him in the arm, of course. Yep, she was same old Tori. Just a little more... matured. Though it pains me to say.

Inside the gym, they played mostly fast-paced music that rattled my ears for the first half of the dance. I tried sitting alone at a table where I could see everyone clearly without having to squeeze myself into the grotesquely odorous mass of hormones. But then Chloe came up to me, looking just as stunning as she had earlier, begging me to come out on the floor. "For Simon and Tori." she had said. "They would be upset if they saw you having a bad time." I knew Tori probably wouldn't care as she sat at a table full of geeks talking about some computer micro-chip or something, and that Simon was far too busy with some redhead to even notice I still existed. But I also knew that though she was asking for Simon and Tori, Chloe just didn't want to be alone out there on the dance-floor. And I didn't want her to be, either. I wanted to hold her close and feel her warmth and smell her beautiful scent without having to strain. I wanted to just spend time with her, and actually, maybe, have some fun.

So I did.

I danced in spite of myself, and let go for the first time in a while. I suddenly didn't pay much attention to the shifty-eyed boys pouring a vile of clear liquid into the punch. I didn't notice the girl that crept up to my seat and stole the muffin I had grabbed from the snack table. All that mattered was me and Chloe, and how much fun we were having. Finally, as a slow-song began to lull its way across the dance floor, I grabbed onto Chloe's wrist tightly, and she nodded in agreement excitedly. I slowly pulled her close, and she rested her head on my chest, letting out a sigh of content. I could hear loudly the beat of our speeding hearts, pounding against our chests. For a moment, I almost thought they were in rhythm. But I remember thinking, _that's impossible, _and pushing the thought away. In that moment, I couldn't imagine being happier anywhere else than in her arms.

But as I think back, I realize that as I danced with Chloe, Simon _had_ noticed I existed. While Tori danced with some lanky skater-boy, both wearing faces that clearly said the dancing was a dare, Simon sat at our table, alone. That wasn't like Simon at all. He would never pass up a chance to pick-up another swooning girl. But despite the large pool of fish to choose from, Simon sat, watching with a hint of regret as Chloe and I danced in the center of the floor.

Now I realize what Simon must have been thinking that night: What did I do wrong? Should I have spent more money on her? Should I have given her more of my time? Or should I simply have just danced with her? Would that have made her choose me?

But, in my case, it was much more than forgetting to hold hands every once in a while that lost me the most important thing in the world.


End file.
